Brad,
What you are saying is that in some areas, the Soviet government is better
than the US government - which is to be expected just as the reverse is true.
The power of government can force invention and production in a particular
- government required - direction in a way impossible to the free market.
The free market is where a confluence of individual opinions makes its
mark. If people don't want liquid fueled rockets, you will find none there.
(I certainly have found none at my local Farmer's Markets and, believe me,
I've looked.
Stealth bombers are remarkably absent too. Guess the only way I'll see a
Stealth bomber at the Pasadena High School Farmer's market is if Washington
realizes how important it is for Californians to have a chance to buy one
(maybe helped by a subsidy)?
The Pasadena market has of course failed again. They concentrate on fresh
fruit and vegetables, arts and crafts, and all kinds of tasty ethnic foods
- no doubt full of cholesterol and other things that are bad for us.
Where is the government when we need it?
Of course the Soviets were so busy working on kerosene they had no time to
see their people were fed. Fortunately, a network of private food producers
made up for the inefficiencies of the collective farms and fed the people.
However, with free (albeit illegal) enterprise feeding the people -
apparently two thirds of them - The government could concentrate on Sputnik
and other important things the Russian people simply couldn't do without.
Oh well!
Harry
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Brad wrote:
> From today's NYT:
>
> > The Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle... let
> > American companies pick whatever technology
> > they wanted.... [A] spokeswoman for Lockheed
> > Martin Space Systems... said the company's
> > teams seized on a Russian engine design after
> > being dazzled by Russian secrets accessible after
> > the end of the cold war. "We were astounded,"
> > she said. "The Russians were able to develop
> > systems and metals and capabilities that allowed
> > them to fire engines at higher pressures,
> > temperatures and efficiencies.".... "We're getting
> > the crown jewels,"... an expert on the Russian
> > space program at the Federation of American
> > Scientists... [said:] "It makes up for 30 years of
> > not doing the appropriate amount of engine
> > research ourselves." The trick is that the Russians
> > learned during the cold war how to excel without
> > pushing technological limits -- the opposite of
> > the West's approach. For instance, Moscow often
> > relied on kerosene, an inexpensive fuel that can
> > work at room temperature. In contrast,
> > Washington pushed to perfect the use of liquid
> > hydrogen. This costly, high-energy propellant
> > must be refrigerated down to hundreds of degrees
> > below zero, a temperature that can freeze, shatter
> > or otherwise play havoc with fast-moving parts.
>
>William J. Broad, "A Missile That Would Make Lenin Faint",
>NYT Week in Review, 22Sep02, p.WK5
>
>My question: How could the Soviets do this without free markets?
>Conversely, how could The United States of America, with
>free enterprise, have failed to come up with the best ideas and
>the best implementations?
>
>Marx is all wrong. Only free enterprise can do anything
>right. Then why were the slaves of Soviet Imperialiusm
>able to do things that today our scientists are
>in awe of? If The Invisible Hand is not only onmikpotent
>but all-belevolent, how could it have pointed us
>off into blind alleys in the land of cost-effective
>"O rings"?
>
>Of course the Soviets did not get everything right.
>But they didn't get everything wrong either.
>
>Maybe we can learn some things from Soviet social
>life as well as from Soviet Rocket Science? ("Unthinkable!")
>
>\brad mccormick
******************************
Harry Pollard
Henry George School of LA
Box 655
Tujunga CA 91042
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Tel: (818) 352-4141
Fax: (818) 353-2242
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